A woman with a hose tries to put out the fire during a wildfire in Santa Baia De Montes, northwestern Spain, Thursday, August 14, 2025. (Photo by Lalo R. Villar/AP Photo)

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”)

Hindu devotees, their bodies pierced with lemon and paladai, or bowl with a spout mainly used to feed milk to infants, wait to participate in a procession to mark Shivratri, or the night of Shiva, in Chennai, India, Wednesday, February 18, 2015. Such processions are held as an offering and show of devotion by devotees on the day dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction. (Photo by Arun Sankar K./AP Photo)

Indian children help to push an auto rickshaw along a flooded street after heavy rain in Jalandhar on June 29, 2017, as the monsoon season begins. (Photo by Shammi Mehra/AFP Photo)

A string art picture made by artist Ani Abakumova in a workshop in the village of Romashkovo in Moscow Region, Russia on August 2, 2019. Ani Abakumova and her husband Andrei Abakumov create string art replicas of famous paintings. Andrei makes computer calculations that show patterns for future images, then Ani winds coloured strings around nails hammered around a plywood board. (Photo by Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS)

Children take part in the “Carnavalito” children's parade during the Blacks and Whites Carnival in Pasto, Colombia, on January 2, 2018. (Photo by Juan Barreto/AFP Photo)

Lancaster Gate station displays signage after being rebranded “Ratchet and Clankaster Gate” as the PS5 goes on sale in the UK, on November 19, 2020 in London, England. The first generational upgrade to Sony's line of Playstation consoles since 2013, the launch has seen pre-orders sell out within hours and websites crash as retailers attempt to keep up with demand. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

A Palestinian man reacts as he confronts Israeli forces during a protest against Israeli settlement activity near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on June 11, 2022. (Photo by Mussa Qawasma/Reuters)