Comedian Chevy Chase gets a kiss on his ear from co-star Benji as the two held a press conference in Los Angeles, September 6, 1979, at which they announced their up-coming movie “Oh Heavenly Dog” would begin filming this month. The film will be shot on location in London, Berlin and Paris; but due to British quarantine laws a double will be used for Benji at the London location. (Photo by Nick Ut/AP Photo)

Dancers resting on the rooftop of the SKD Theatre Asakusa, Tokyo, 1949. (Photo by Tanuma Takeyoshi/The Guardian)

University students demonstrate against the crisis in the public education, budget cuts and a tax reform project announced by the government of Ivan Duque in Medellin, Colombia on December 13, 2018. (Photo by Joaquín Sarmiento/AFP Photo)

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift kiss after the AFC Championship NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Sunday, January 26, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (Photo by Ashley Landis/AP Photo)

Jodie Ounsley who plays Fury in the British TV show Gladiators reacts after finishing the Women's Open Category race at the World Coal Carrying Championships in Ossett, West Yorkshire, England, Monday, April 21, 2025. (Photo by Jon Super/AP Photo)

People pass by a light decoration during Valentine’s Day in Tirana, Albania, on February 14, 2024. (Photo by Florion Goga/Reuters)

British singer-songwriter and dancer FKA twigs (R) at Boom Met Gala After Party hosted by FKA Twigs in Manhattan, New York on May 6, 2024. (Photo by Yvonne Tnt/BFA.com/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

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”)