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”)

An Orthodox priest conducts a blessing in front of the Soyuz TMA-20M for the next International Space Station (ISS) crew, comprised of Jeff Williams of the U.S. and Oleg Skriprochka and Alexey Ovchinin of Russia, at the launchpad at the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, March 17, 2016, ahead of its launch scheduled on March 19. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

Members of the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces Rescue and Relief Unit take part in a biochemical simulation organized by the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) as part of the “African Lion” military exercise, in the port of Agadir, on June 15, 2021. (Photo by Fadel Senna/AFP Photo)

A man rides a golden motorbike on a street in Bangkok, Thailand on August 14, 2020. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

A truck driver cleans the mirror of his decorated truck in Charsadda outside Peshawar, Pakistan October 18, 2016. (Photo by Fayaz Aziz/Reuters)

Crocodile meat parts stands on display on Huangsha Seafood Market in Guangzhou, Guandong Province, China, 20 January 2018. Tsukiji Market of China or Huangsha Seafood Market is biggest one in Southern China and one of the biggest in China, as there are literally hundreds of different varieties of fish and seafood scattered throughout the market. (Photo by Aleksandar Plavevski/EPA/EFE)

Women wearing kimono and protective masks make their way to Coming of Age Day celebration ceremony, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Tokyo, Japan, January 10, 2022. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

2021 Miss Universe Harnaaz Sandhu from India struggles to keep her crown on in the wind, as she arrives on the observation level of the Empire State Building in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S. January 12, 2022. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)