Some years ago, a man from my Wharfedale village went on a bus trip to London, his first time in the capital.

He somehow got separated from his party and was wandering around the busy city, lost and alone. To his relief, he spotted a policeman in the middle of a crowded Leicester Square.

He went up to him and said: “Eh up, officer, have you seen Arthur?”

This gave the city policeman a laugh and I sometimes think, while working in the national park centres, of this fish-out-of-water story and how it can become completely reversed. Those of us who live and work in the national park are sometimes unaware of what a bewildering world it can seem to visitors from completely different environments.

There are four national park centres – Hawes, Aysgarth, Malham and Grassington – and, last year, more than 470,000 people passed through their doors. There are also three partnership centres – Reeth, Settle and Sedbergh – as well as numerous other places around the national park where visitors can find information.

Working in the centres is tremendously rewarding and we meet many brilliant, interesting people who often have lots to teach us about flora and fauna and give us useful feedback about their experiences.

And the fantastic thing is that you never know what is coming next.

People are always losing things – we have had children, dogs and even parrots brought in to centres.

And there are always questions.

The word “park” can be puzzling, particularly to those from urban areas. We have been asked where the tickets are sold to enter the park, which gives us an opportunity to talk about our national parks, when and why they were set up and what great activities there are to do. It also enables us to talk about the people who live and work here and about the responsibilities of being a visitor to this beautiful landscape, which is also a working environment – mostly in private ownership.

Then there are some of the more unusual inquiries, such as: “Why have the sheep all got coloured splodges on their backs?”

Some require a very straight face to respond. I had an inquiry at the Aysgarth centre as to why there wasn’t much water in the falls that day and was there going to be more water in the Upper or Lower Falls?

A colleague at Grassington was asked: “If I start a circular walk and get fed up, am I allowed to turn around and come back or do I have to do the full circuit?” And another: “What time is the 10.15am bus?”

But our all-time favourite question was asked in the Malham centre: “How often do you paint Malham Cove?”

We put these quirky inquiries down to people being on holiday and feeling relaxed by the wonderful time they are having. But whatever the query, our national park centres are here to help people enjoy and learn more – so come on in.

by Cathy Bergs, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority centre manager north