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 female bodybuilder apples oil to another performer backstage before an amateur competition in the Israeli city of Dimona, in this April 3, 2014 file photo. (Photo by Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters)

In this photo provided by Jean Revillard, Solar Impulse 2, a plane powered by the sun's rays and piloted by Andre Borschberg, approaches Kalaeloa Airport near Honolulu, Friday, July 3, 2015. His 120-hour voyage from Nagoya, Japan broke the record for the world's longest nonstop solo flight, his team said. (Photo by Jean Revillard/Global Newsroom via AP Photo)

NASA's new moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Wednesday morning, November 16, 2022, as seen from Harbor town Marina on Merritt Island, Fla. The moon is visible in the sky. (Photo by Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via AP Photo)

US President Joe Biden departs the White House for California, where he will review damage from recent flooding, in Washington, DC, USA, 19 January 2023. (Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/EFE)

Artists perform during the 137th Nice Carnival parade in Nice, southeastern France, on February 19, 2022. The Carnival takes place until February 27, 2022 on the theme “King of animals”. (Photo by Valery Hache/AFP Photo)

A Sri Lankan fisherman tries to push back stranded pilot whales into the deep water in the northwestern coast of Kudawa on February 11, 2023. Eleven pilot whales were saved on February 11 after beaching on Sri Lanka's western coast in the early hours, wildlife officials told AFP. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

A woman wearing a protective mask walks outside a church in Mandaluyong, east of Manila, Philippines on Sunday, February 2, 2020. The Philippines on Sunday reported the first death of a new virus outside of China, where authorities delayed the opening of schools in the worst-hit province and tightened quarantine measures in another that allow only one family member to venture out to buy supplies. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)