[1] The reservoir was initially approved under the Keighley Waterworks and Improvement Act of 1869[2] but work did not begin on its construction until 1911 and even then was delayed because of the First World War.

[5] The reservoir dams Sladen Beck watercourse and takes water directly from the surrounding moorland including the stream that flows over the Bronte Waterfall.

The road (since known as Waterhead Lane) used to cut across Sladen valley taking a north west route from Intake Farm and going through the small hamlet of Smith Bank.

[9] The hamlet and its mill (which featured in Halliwell Sutcliffe's novel A Man of the Moors[10]) were flooded when the reservoir was completed with the road being diverted northwards onto the dam head.

[1] The grassed east facing slope of the dam head was used as a backdrop for a banner promoting the Tour de Yorkshire.