Where is it?
Wild swimming in the Faerie Pools at Luss.
Why do you go there?
Because it is beautiful and secluded. You walk through the [Loch Lomond] Faerie Trail. It is one of the first places I went to swim and that makes it special. It is super cold because the water comes straight off the mountain.
How often do you go?
A few times a year. One of the things I have found since I started doing this is that you want to go to visit new and different places, whether it is a waterfall or a coastal area. So, it is sentiment that draws me back to the Faerie Pools. I really do love it.
How did you discover it?
Through my wife Jules and her pal Gayle Telfer Stevens, who is an actor on River City. Gayle took Jules to the Faerie Pools, then Jules said to me, “You have to come and see this place …”
What is so cool about it is that it feels like you are hundreds of miles out of the city and, of course, you’re not. You are just at the tip of Loch Lomond.
What’s your favourite memory?
One time we went in the middle of winter. It started to get dark while we were there because we hadn’t really timed it properly. We were swimming in the dark, came out, got dressed and began to walk back.
There was an owl. Suddenly it felt like we were in that forest in Harry Potter. I felt a bit spooked and thought, “We better get back to the car …” It was the first time I had heard an owl in the wild in Scotland.
Who do you take?
Jules. We have also taken a few people to Luss. If somebody has never done a wild swim before, though, I wouldn’t take them there for the first time because it is very cold. The safety aspect is important to us and that comes across in our show. Go with a partner, a friend or in a wee group, especially if you are inexperienced and just starting out.
What do you take?
A towel. Getting dry and into warm clothes is essential because your body needs to heat up at the proper rate. Then, after that, a flask of tea and a bit of chocolate or something sweet - they call it the “chittery bite”, which is a cute name. Physically you come out and do feel reset. And for the rest of the day, you have a smile on your face.
Sum it up in five words.
Calming. Refreshing. Reset. Addictive. Fun.
What other travel spot is on your wish list?
There are so many places to explore in Scotland and I feel as if we have only scratched the surface. But I would love to go to the islands, such as the beach at Luskentyre in Harris that looks like Barbados.
Jules and Greg’s Wild Swim continues on BBC Scotland, Wednesdays, 10pm. All episodes available on BBC iPlayer
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here