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 Capetonian watches the sun rise from the top of Signal Hill as smoke engulfs the city of Cape Town, South Africa, Tuesday April 20, 2021. A massive fire spreading on the slopes of the city's famed Table Mountain, at right, is kept under control as firemen and helicopters take advantage of the low winds to contain the blaze. (Photo by Jerome Delay/AP Photo)

A Hezbollah supporter fires a rocket-propelled grenade in the air to celebrate the arrival of Iranian fuel tankers to Lebanon, in the eastern town of Baalbek, Lebanon, Thursday, September 16, 2021. The delivery violates US sanctions imposed on Tehran after former President Donald Trump pulled America out of a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers three years ago. (Photo by Bilal Hussein/AP Photo)

Ukrainians attend an open military training for civilians on a training range in Kiev, Ukraine, 30 January 2022. According to a survey conducted by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) from December 2021, 50.2 percent of Ukrainians said they would resist in case of a Russian military intervention into their city, town or village. Every third respondent to the poll said they were ready to engage in armed resistance, and 21.7 percent said they were ready to participate in civil resistance actions. (Photo by Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA/EFE)

Ukrainians attend an open military training for civilians on a training range in Kiev, Ukraine, 06 February 2022. According to a survey conducted by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) from December 2021, 50.2 percent of Ukrainians said they would resist in case of a Russian military intervention into their city, town or village. Every third respondent to the poll said they were ready to engage in armed resistance, and 21.7 percent said they were ready to participate in civil resistance actions. (Photo by Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A wounded servicemen of Ukrainian Military Forces looks on after the battle with Russian troops and Russia-backed separatists in Lugansk region on March 8, 2022. The number of refugees flooding across Ukraine's borders to escape towns devastated by shelling and air strikes passed two million, in Europe's fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II, according to the United Nations. (Photo by Anatolii Stepanov/AFP Photo)

An army cadet contestant with his kart trailing smoke hits the ramp hard and crashes during the 70 year anniversary soap box derby on April 02, 2023 in Hunstanton, England. Over 40 home built karts raced through the streets of the Norfolk town, around bends and over jumps. The race was first held in1953. (Photo by Martin Pope/Getty Images)

“The Glimmer Twins”, a statue of Rolling Stones Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards created by sculptor Amy Goodman (centre), is unveiled at One Bell Corner in Dartford, Essex, UK on Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The statue has been commissioned by Dartford Borough Council to celebrate two of the town's most famous former residents. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)