An (un)Well well

Something I have a particular aversion to is wells. There's just something about looking down a narrow shaft into dark water, not knowing where the bottom might be. Hence I didn't particularly relish the task of climbing down a ladder into the depths, to bale ours out. Used for many years as a makeshift outlet for the household greywater, it isn't a pretty sight, and the water was black and stinking. Coupled with a not terribly large opening, and you have a recipe for being especially wet and  smelly.

It turns out not to be that deep really - only 12 feet, but it feels deeper when you're standing at the bottom. I was a bit worried that I might simply have stood the ladder on a ledge, and be standing above a pit of goodness knows what depth, but I'm pretty certain that we've reached the bottom proper. Having emptied all the water and sludge out, the question of how to clean it remains. In the meantime we'll patch up the cap, and see if it refills.
If anyone has any tips on how we can get it back into some sort of service, even as a supply for watering the veg, please let us know.
Having entertained ourselves with this diversion, and finished the paths off in the garden (below), we set to completing the ones around the pond.

The wonderfully wiggly paths in the garden. The well is in the fork of the path in the top right of the picture.

Looking up towards the house - the pond now has dry land all around it, and some huge beds that  need preparing for growing.