What to do with my rose bush?....

How old is it and how high do you want it to grow? I've just looked it up, it's a beauty and good disease resistance too.

the most important thing to know about a rose is what type it is - climbing, HT, shrub, rambler, because that makes a difference to how its pruned and when. Can you find out what kind it is?

http://www.davidaustinroses.com/english/Showrose.asp?Showr=4384

With my climbers I cut out any weak/untidy bits then choose two strong stems. I cut one short,say a foot long and the other two or three foot tall. Seldom do you find two people who agree with rose pruning as a lot depends on the rose, age height ect. but now is the right time to prune it.

Just checked this rose and it seems to be a shrub type rather than a climber. My book says to cut it down to about 6/9 inches this year (its first) now and thereafter take less, but removing some stems at ground level yearly. It seems to be a vigorous variety.

It has grown to about 5' high this year with 5 or 6 stems just tall & straight. I cut it down quite low to the bottom last time & it seemed to take so long to grow again I thought I had lost it. Some of the previous stems had turned brown/dead with no growth. Should I just cut it half-way down this year?

Okay then, but you should remove any dead wood you see too, and I think I'd take down one or two of those stems to an inch from the ground, from the centre of the bush if possible.

Thank you for all the advice, much appreciated.