“This grey adult male seal enjoys a good grin while lying on the beach”. (Photo by Michael Hutch/SplashdownDirect via Rex USA)

While the lido was described as bringing “modernism to the masses” on the British coast it was just the latest example of a trend that had been developing since Victorian times – transforming seaside towns into resorts for leisure and entertainment. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the fashion was for local authorities to build great piers stretching from the promenade out into the sea. The Eastbourne Pier, pictured here in May 1931, was erected between 1866 and 1870 to an ingenious design by Eugenius Birch, which saw the structure sitting on special cups allowing the supporting struts to “move” in bad weather. Arranged on the pier's 1,000-foot length were kiosks, a theatre, a ballroom and a camera obscura. 1931. (Photo by Aerofilms Collection via “A History of Britain From Above”)

A mobile phone cover with a picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin and which reads “Mr President” is seen in this photo illustration taken a in hotel room in Kazan, Russia, July 30, 2015. He may be in charge of an economy in crisis, but if mobile phone covers and souvenir mugs are a barometer of popularity, Russian President Vladimir Putin need not fear for his political future. In fact, Moscow's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine last year has given the memorabilia makers even more material to glorify, sometimes wryly, a president whose image as a champion of Russian national interests in a hostile world is barely challenged in his own country. (Photo by Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)

American media personality, socialite and model Kylie Kristen Jenner and American model Kendall Nicole Jenner are launching a new joint makeup line in the last decade of March 2022. (Photo by Kyliejenner/Instagram)

Passengers wears a face mask while riding on a bus after new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Peshawar, Pakistan, 18 November 2020. Countries around the world are taking increased measures to stem the widespread of the Covid-19 disease. (Photo by Arshad Arbab/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A Pakistani owner tries to load camel on a truck at a cattle market set up for the upcoming Muslim festival Eid al-Adha in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, August 17, 2018. Eid al-Adha, or Feast of Sacrifice, most important Islamic holiday marks the willingness of the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham to Christians and Jews) to sacrifice his son. (Photo by Shakil Adil/AP Photo)

MMVA host model Gigi Hadid takes pictures with fans as she arrives for the iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards (MMVAs) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada June 19, 2016. (Photo by Peter Power/Reuters)

An Afghan burqa-clad woman carries a child as she walks along a road in Herat on October 1, 2023. (Photo by Mohsen Karimi/AFP Photo)