FLEXIBILITY is the name of the game at the Coppice Coffee Shop at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority visitor centre at Aysgarth Falls - and that means even those with some food allergies can enjoy a meal out.

"We mainly cater for families, and don't specialise in dietary requirements," emphasised the manager, Karen Chapman, "but we are very flexible and people seem to appreciate that."

Recently, the nationl park authority held a Welcome Host training day with the English Tourist Board, and Mrs Chapman was among those invited to attend. Access for those with disabilities and catering for people with special dietary requirements were among the issues discussed.

As the centre at Aysgarth was refurbished in 1997, access for the disabled is not a problem. But visitors are usually amazed to find gluten-free items on the menu, including desserts.

So, perhaps not surprisingly, at the training day, Mrs Chapman found herself sharing knowledge rather than receiving it. As far as she knows, within the national park only the Angel at Hetton also offers gluten-free meals.

It was several years ago that one of her regular local customers alerted her to the problem of food allergies. Since then, she has worked with her customers to increase the amount of choice and some have responded by sending her gluten-free recipes.

"I give the recipes to the local woman who does our baking. We test them, and if they are yummy they go on the board," she said. They usually have chocolate brownies, lemon spice cake, apple and almond cake and chocolate polenta with brandy all marked as gluten-free, with some of these available on the takeaway service.

"Our home-made soups are all gluten-free. People come back for those - they are more like a meal."

Others return regularly for her big bowls of salad. She always has gluten-free pasta in stock and will change the ingredients of a salad dressing for those who are on a dairy-free diet. There's even soya spread for the baked potatoes as an alternative to butter.

"I can't bake," admitted Mrs Chapman.

"But she can improvise and comes up with some good ideas," remarked her assistant, Janet Walsh.

"If we can do, it we will do it," said Mrs Chapman. And that includes a service to parents with babies. The coffee shop has nappies and baby wipes in stock, high chairs, baby food and will heat up milk.

There is a large print menu which lists fruit and herbal teas, speciality teas and coffees, and special diet alternatives. For diabetics, there are low sugar icecream and jams.

She can also offer a very healthy plate of food for children - and the one thing she doesn't do is fry chips!

Coffee shop facilities are so limited that all Mrs Chapman can use for cooking are three microwave ovens, one grill and a bain marie, and no chip fryers are allowed.

She buys as much as she can locally, which in the summer includes organic salads from a village garden nearby.

Her local customers helped her to survive the devastating impact of the foot-and-mouth epidemic on the Yorkshire Dales tourist trade last year.

The visitor centre and coffee shop were closed for two weeks when the epidemic first hit Wensleydale. Even when they opened again, the car park was often nearly empty.

"Easter Sunday last year there were only 14 cars in the car park at 2pm in the afternoon and four of those belonged to staff. It was weird. We went out and looked because nothing was happening in the shop," Mrs Chapman said.

With so little trade, she could no longer employ staff. "I ran everything here on my own with help from my family." That's when the locals rallied around.

"Eight people came twice a week during last summer and there were other local gatherings here," Mrs Chapman said. This included the Methodist congregation in West Burton going to the coffee shop for Sunday lunch once a fortnight. As the food was so good, they didn't stop when the epidemic came to an end.

Mrs Chapman lives in West Burton where her husband has a small hill farm. He often helps her and also cares for their son when she is working. Like other farmers' wives, she has had to work to supplement the family income. She started as a cleaner and then became a waitress in local restaurants.

It took a while for her to gain enough confidence to become a manager. "But I love people. And I didn't realise how much I would enjoy the banter. It's like being on a stage."

Her stage performances as one of the panto dames with the Wensleydale Troupers are always memorable. During the last show in Leyburn, the audience enjoyed her attempts to make a pancake.

She would love to have a chance to be more creative with the coffee shop decor, but as business picks up there will be plenty to do. Like the visitor centre, the coffee shop is now open seven days a week from 10am-5pm