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”)

Afghan children wait as their mothers receive treatment at a USAID-funded health center on September 7, 2011 in Farza, Afghanistan. Almost 10 years after the 9/11 attacks and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, the U.S. government funds some of 500 Afghan health facilities nationwide, most run by non-governmental organizations contracted by the Afghan Ministry of Public Health. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Matilda Thurston 10, enjoys a warm day at Hathersage Swimming Pool in Hathersage on April 27, 2025. A mini heatwave is set to hit parts of the UK with temperatures reaching 27 degrees next week. (Photo by Ioannis Alexopoulos/London News Pictures)

In this July 30, 2014 photo, neighbors help gravely injured Mohammed al-Selek, 39, wounded by an Israeli mortar strike as he lays next to the body of Palestinian journalist Rami Reyan who was killed, in the Shijaiyah neighborhood of the northern Gaza Strip. Al-Selek's life changed forever last July 30, when the shells slammed into his home killing all his three children, his father and six other relatives. A year later, al-Selek, who lost his leg during the airstrike, still struggles to recover and come to terms with his family's loss in the 50-day Israel-Hamas war. (Photo by Adel Hana/AP Photo)

Steam comes out of the chimneys of the coal-fired power station Neurath near the Garzweiler open-cast coal mine in Luetzerath, Germany, Monday, October 25, 2021. The climate change conference COP26 will start next Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

An artist draws a mural on a wall during a wall painting competition in Amritsar on February 25, 2023. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)

Employees of a food stand take pictures of Titan, a robot created by England Cyberstein Robots, performing at the Danilovsly market in downtown of Moscow, Russia, 12 May 2014. Titan visited to Moscow to attend “Bal Robotov”, an interactive exhibition of the most recent advances in robotics which will be opened on 15 May in Artplay Moscow exhibition center. Titan worked alongside superstars including Will.i.am, Rihanna, Will Smith and Jackie Chan. (Photo by Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA)

Luna the French Bulldog is dressed in red, white, and blue during the National Independence Day Parade in Washington, DC, on July 4, 2023. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds/AFP Photo)