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”)

Julian, left, is photographed by his mother with friend Gianluca, right, under water at a public pool in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on a hot Friday, July 3, 2015. Germany faces a heat wave with temperatures up to 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) at the weekend. (Photo by Martin Meissner/AP Photo)

A man crosses Canal Street in the wind and rain from Hurricane Isaac August 29, 2012. (Photo by David J. Phillip/Associated Press)

Dutch artist Maxim Gazendam works on his sand sculpture during the third edition of the European Championship Sand Sculpting 2014 in Zandvoort aan Zee, The Netherlands, 08 August 2014. Eight sculptors from different European countries will each create an impressive sculpture on the main theme “Music and Dance”. (Photo by Remko De Waal/EPA)

A general view of the sunrise over Hawes, Wensleydale, UK on November 24, 2014. (Photo by Neil Squires/PA Wire)

Wadha al-Sayyed, wife of captive Lebanese soldier Khaled Moqbel, protests for his release and government action, near burning tyres blocking a road in Beirut, December 15, 2014. More than two dozen members of the Lebanese security forces are being held by Sunni Islamists. (Photo by Hasan Shaaban/Reuters)

Women labourers work at the construction site of a road in Kolkata January 8, 2015. Across towns and cities in India, it is not uncommon to see women cleaning building sites, carrying bricks and or shoveling gravel – helping construct the infrastructure necessary for the country's economic and social development. They help build roads, railway tracks, airports, and offices. They lay pipes for clean water supplies, cables for telecommunications, and dig the drains for sewage systems. But although women make up at least 20 percent of India's 40 million construction workers, they are less recognized than male workers with lower pay and often prone to safety hazards and sexual harassment. They are often unaware of their rights or scared to complain, say activists now trying to campaign for better treatment of women in the construction industry. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

Pedestrians have a snowball fight in Times Square following a mandatory shutdown of the streets at 11 p.m. on January 26, 2015 in New York City. New York, and much of the Northeast, is bracing for a major winter storm which is expected to bring blizzard conditions and 10 to 30 inches of snow to the area. (Photo by Alex Trautwig/AFP Photo)