The Mad Hatter's tea party, a scene from a theatre production of “Alice In Wonderland”. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). Circa 1910

“The Guinness World Records has consistently listed Sherlock Holmes as the “most portrayed movie character” with 75 actors playing the part in over 211 films. Holmes' first screen appearance was in the Mutoscope film Sherlock Holmes Baffled in 1900, albeit in a barely-recognisable form”. – Wikipedia

Photo: William Gillette as the lead in a stage production of “Sherlock Holmes”, at the Lyceum Theatre. Playwright: William Gillette, Arthur Conan Doyle (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). 9th September 1901

Moroccan horsemen fire their rifles during a performance to celebrate the annual Moussem festival in El Jadida on August 6, 2023. (Photo by Fadel Senna/AFP Photo)

Members of the Apocalyptic Marauders group in their post-apocalyptic outfits and gear, including a flame thrower in Henrichenburg, Waltrop, Germany on August 13, 2023. Steampunk fans, groups and visitors, many in retro-futuristic or Victorian inspired outfits, have fun on the second day of the Steampunk Jubilee Festival weekend at the historic Henrichenburg boat lift, a listed industrial heritage site landmark. (Photo by Imageplotter/Alamy Live News)

Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej in serious portrait January 01, 1960. Thailand's Royal Palace said on Thursday, October 13, 2016, that Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, has died at age 88. (Photo by John Dominis/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Two sailors from HMS Fury enjoy a smoke with two women in bathing suits on a beach in Jersey, where their ship is on a visit. (Photo by William Vanderson/Fox Photos/Getty Images). 29th June 1935

Believers burn dried oak branches, which symbolizes the Yule log, on Orthodox Christmas Eve in front of the St. Sava temple in Belgrade, Serbia, January 6, 2016. Serbian Orthodox believers celebrate Christmas on January 7, according to the Julian calendar. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

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”)