2/15 – Belfast NY & Cattaraugus – 17-20 May 2024

I arrived at Eve Kushner’s house later than planned and absolutely soaked, having ridden for about 3 hours in heavy, continuous, and at times torrential, rain from Niagara Falls. Fortunately, my 1980’s vintage rain suit is still 100% waterproof. Sadly, the company, Balerno, seems to have disappeared as I could find no trace of it online; if anyone knows differently, let me know.

I was immediately taken in hand! A beer – more about that later – and ushered to the basement to divest myself of my wet gear, and have it properly hung up to dry. Eve fussed around me like a mother hen; at first, I thought maybe she was nervous or anxious about this dripping stranger she had just admitted to her home – I had actually requested to be stay with her neighbour Art Hazer, but he was away for the weekend and had volunteered Eve as a stand-in – and kept telling her I was OK and to relax. After a few deep breaths … she was no different! I later learned that this is just Eve and that no amount of deep breathing would slow her down! She has enough energy for ten mother hens, and she expends it to ensure everyone around her has just what they need.

There are some people with whom there is an immediate connection, “un, je ne sais quoi” and it was like this with Eve; by the time my beer was finished, I felt we had known each other for a lifetime. Oh yes, that beer! That beer was a locally brewed lager, weighing in at 9%! Of course, as a good guest, I just had to drink it, and that coupled with the wine (?) that accompanied the excellent dinner Eve had prepared, left me feeling decidedly woozy next morning; and all I got was laughed at!!

The next morning, Saturday I met the neighbours, Brenda, Rusty and Lisa, and Eve’s son Casey, who arrived shortly afterwards. Eve is planning to go to Germany later in the year to visit her son and daughter-in-law who are expecting their first child, so amidst the turmoil, I made myself useful by organising her flight. and convinced her, I hope, that St Ferriol is not very far from Frankfurt and that she has to come to visit me there. She said she would, but maybe she was just humouring me, or else, like me in the US, she has no idea of the distances involved.

Eve has lived in the area for many, many years and in the afternoon, she took me on a bit of a tour, ostensibly to visit Belfast. We visited the Caneadea Bridge, where, in 1995, she and a friend organised a petition to reopen the bridge that had been closed. She had a good reason, mind, because, a week earlier, she had moved into her new house to which the bridge provided one of only two access routes; the bridge reopened 10 years later, one week after she moved out! I told her that there was a clear message there! J

Caneadea (Baby) is the town next to Belfast, NY so that was our next stopover. After coffee, surrounded by teapots, in a neat little café, we wandered across the street to the Belfast Historical Society office. Just for a change, it was closed.

However, there was a phone number and five minutes later we were sitting on the kerb waiting on Wendy and her husband Paul; they turned up a little later with a story of their own. Apparently, they had stopped by our bikes – oh, I didn’t say that Eve rides a HD Soft-tail – and asked a lad standing nearby if he was called Sean. He said, “Yes,” so they spent the next fifteen minutes, telling them about the history of Belfast; the young couple must have been truly perplexed, but, apparently, they listened politely.

Anyway, we were invited into the office and given a fantastic run through the history of, not only the town, but also the district, as Eve was very interested in all things relating to the area in which she had spent so much time.

Belfast, New York

The area in which the current Belfast is found was expropriated from the original inhabitants, the Seneca Indians, because they had supported the defeated British in the American War of Independence.

Established in 1824 from part of Caneadea, the town was originally called Orrinsburg. In 1825 the residents changed the name to Belfast; one story being that many of the new settlers were from Northern Ireland, and the other is that the surveyor was from Belfast Maine. In 1831, the size of the town was increased by the state legislature by adding more territory from Caneadea.

With the completion of the Genesee Valley Canal, joining southern New York to the Great Lakes, in 1853, the town prospered and this increased as the town benefitted from three railroad connections.

The subsequent arrival of ethnic English settlers resulted in conflict due to religious and social differences, reflecting the current situation in Ireland. In 1846-47 there was a major conflict sparked by food shortages with the Irish faction taking control of the mills before the state militia intervened.

One famous resident of the town was Irishman John L Sullivan who came from Boston to train, for the last bare knuckle boxing championship, with William Muldoon. Facing Jake Kilrain in Richburg, Mississippi, Sullivan lasted for 72 rounds before being declared the winner. The training barns used were adapted in 2009 to become the Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame – the only one in the world apparently; sadly, for us, this is currently undergoing refurbishment.

Due to our prolonged visit to the Historical Society, we got home just before dark.

Arthur returned during the night and we met up next morning while Eve was on a bicycle ride – I told you she has more energy than an Energiser Bunny. That afternoon we had another very scenic ride around Allegany County and Caneadea (baby) and visited some friends of Eve she hadn’t seen for 20+ years. Before that I had to earn my keep, sweating over a sink full of dirty dishes and then prepping for the rhubarb and strawberry pie I had been promised.

Brenda and Larry Had a remarkable house. The interior was designed, developed (I’m not sure of the right word) and constructed by themselves,and was the most esoteric and individual home I have ever seen. They both, but Brenda especially, have a great interest in local history and they have the most amazing collection of artefacts, many being hundreds, if not thousands, of years old; most are arrowheads, spread heads and other Stone Age (my guess) tools. The house had been extended and fashioned using wooden boards and other materials recovered from derelict local barns and houses. What Larry has accomplished with this is truly amazing; the spiral staircase e.g. is hand made and the rail is fashioned from a polished tree branch. I cannot do it justice in words, so I hope the couple of pictures help – I should have taken more.

Dinner was followed by that pie, and while I must confess the strawberries and rhubarb was not a combination I would have thought of myself, it was delicious, and I now have a new recipe to add to my collection.

As before on this epic, all good things end and so next morning I packed up and headed out from this haven of whirlwind activity, back to the “normal” world. However, it’s not the end. Art and Eve are heading to a family gathering in N Carolina in a couple of weeks, just when I should be seeking out NC’s Belfast! So hopefully a reunion will be possible.