The lake, which is fed by land drainage, covers an area of 7 hectares (17 acres), and enters the River Aire via Yeadon Beck, which drains from the tarn at is western side.

It is estimated that the tarn holds 237,841 cubic metres (8,399,300 cu ft) of water and drains an area of 68 hectares (170 acres).

[20] In the Second World War, the tarn was drained so that it could not be used as a navigational aid for enemy bombers trying to attack the AVRO factory north of the airfield; it was allowed to refill between 1945 and 1946.

[23] The tarn has attracted a variety of wildfowl, notably ducks and geese, which have caused a hazard to aircraft landing and taking off at the adjacent Leeds/Bradford Airport.

[24] The tarn attracts cormorants, goosanders, mallards, canada geese,[25] and it is known to have signal crayfish present with a programme of trapping initiated in 2015.