Event entertainer Holly Egan poses with a guitar using an angle grinder as Kevin Jay and Nigel Cox spin burning steel wool, sending sparks flying under the A13 in Essex, UK on April 4, 2024. (Photo by Kevin Jay/Picture Exclusive)

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”)

In this Monday, July 25, 2016 photo, skydiver Luke Aikins smiles as he jumps from a helicopter during his training in Simi Valley, Calif. After months of training, this elite skydiver says he's ready to leave his chute in the plane when he bails out 25,000 feet above Simi Valley on Saturday. That's right, no parachute, no wingsuit and no fellow skydiver with an extra one to hand him in mid-air. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

A unidentified woman protests at Broad Street for the pending arrival of Vice President Mike Pence at the Union League, in Philadelphia, Monday, July 23, 2018. Dozens of demonstrators dressed as characters from the novel-turned-TV series “The Handmaid's Tale” descended on downtown Philadelphia to protest Pence’s visit. (Photo by Jose F. Moreno/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP Photo)

People walk along Beachy Head, close to Eastbourne on the south coast of England on April 12, 2020, as life in Britain continues over the Easter break, during the nationwide lockdown to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic. Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson was making “very good progress” on Saturday in his recovery in hospital from coronavirus, officials said, as the country's deaths toll from the disease approached the grim milestone of 10,000. (Photo by Ben Stansall/AFP Photo)

An overview of “Closer”, an art projection by conceptual artist and photographer Wim Tellier, at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels on June 15, 2021. Tellier, a Belgian photographer and artist, is known for his installation projects using giant-size photographs. (Photo by James Arthur Gekiere/Belga/AFP Photo)

Dionte Gilbert (84) leaps across the finish line against Seth Hirschi, back, during the “T-Rex World Championship Races” at Emerald Downs, Sunday, August 20, 2023, in Auburn, Wash. (Photo by Lindsey Wasson/AP Photo)

Models walk during the finale for the Black Tape Project fashion show at New York Fashion Week Fall 2024 powered by Art Hearts Fashion at The Angel Orensanz Foundation on February 11, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Arun Nevader/Getty Images for Art Hearts Fashion)