If you want to know where to swim, ask the local teenage boys. Geographically constrained and with time on their hands, they are often the most knowledgeable people to ask when you arrive in a new area. I found this place through MySpace, where some girls and boys were arranging to meet. We reach the falls by descending on a footpath, past sheep grazing on a field of cabbages, early morning dew and damp stone walls. Signs of popularity are there to see: a fallen tree is scuffed smooth by boots that have kicked up against it, next to the ash from a small fire.

Beneath the falls is a small semicircular swimming pool overhung by ferns and ivy. We get into the pool and there's a mossy cliff that leads up to a rock ledge which Michael immediately climbs to jump off. I'm not great at heights but the constant roar of the falls seems to drown out normal thought, and after a while I can't hear my own vertigo, so I climb up with him.

It turns out to be a good ledge for jumpers and non-jumpers alike – high enough to be thrilling, not so high that it's terrifying. Always check depth before jumping. This pool can be shallow; when we visited, previous swimmers had dammed it up to keep it deep.

Swim: Easy, but some scrambling is required to get to the falls. A good pool for jumping.

Details: You will need an ordnance survey map to locate this pool (SD993341) on a footpath between Shackleton Moor and Hardcastle Crags.

Wild Swim: River, Lake, Lido & Sea by Kate Rew is available for £9.99 (RRP £12.99) with free UK p&p from the Guardian Bookshop.