Hawthorn - coppice, pollard or ignore?

[spandit]

I have a reasonably old hawthorn tree that was previously really shaded by willow and holly, both of which have since been cut down (they were leaning onto a fence and in a poor state - they'll doubtless survive and sprout again). It's rotten in places and very uneven where it's been forced to seek the light. I don't want to kill it but it's just in a field so doesn't need to look pretty. Should I coppice it or cut higher up?

 

The red line in the 2nd pic is holding up what remains of the fence and the holly to the right might benefit from a trim

[Stere]

Id pollard it at 5ft

[Mick Dempsey]

Cut high (pollard) 

That’ll stop it falling apart.

[spandit]

Pollard it is then. Take it this time of year is best?

[Mick Dempsey]

1 minute ago, spandit said:

Pollard it is then. Take it this time of year is best?

This evening is best, if not, then tomorrow. 

[spandit]

Just now, Mick Dempsey said:

This evening is best, if not, then tomorrow. 

Bit dark tonight...

[Mick Dempsey]

2 minutes ago, spandit said:

Bit dark tonight...

Always a reason not to do something…

[Stubby]

19 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Always a reason not to do something…

I have just read Danny Care's book " Everything Happens For a Reason " 🙂

[Mick Dempsey]

What did you think of it?

Edited February 13 by Mick Dempsey

[Stubby]

15 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

What did you think of it?

Enjoyed it to a degree ( I am a through and through Quins fan ) but found the content similar to " Center Stage " by Jamie Roberts and Brion O'Driscals book . But then they are all rugby players so ... One thing that did come across was how ruthless Eddie Jones was . I found it amusing that EJ said his book would be entitled " Caring for Care " 🙂

[spandit]

Got called away for the weekend so had to wait until yesterday to deal with it. Misjudged the lean and briefly trapped the saw as I was doing the back cut but managed to push the tree enough to free it.

 

 

Got a decent amount of firewood from it too: