I greatly enjoy Lark Rise, but wouldn't dream of regarding it as
(a) a faithful representation of Flora Thompson's original (which I have read) or
(b) an accurate piece of folklore.

It's just one of the many books that have been taken up by TV, and then the original characters and relationships from that source material have been given extrapolated and developed.

The TV series had pretty much used up all the dramatic scenarios from the source material by the end of the 1st series; there was demand for more; so the writers start inventing new plotlines, new characters (my biggest questions at the moment are (a) exactly where is slimeball journalist Daniel Parrish actually living? and (b) how come Alf can play in so many different keys on that two-row melodeon?), etc etc.

I'm with Miskin, it's good gentle TV for a Sunday night, and long may it run.

The bleeding tree with the witch trapped inside it was in the original book though ...