Revellers celebrate the New Year in Princes Street during Hogmanay street party celebrations in Edinburgh, Scotland January 1, 2015. (Photo by Russell Cheyne/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”)

Bella Thorne is seen in Soho on September 10, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

A cat sits in the flooding waters from Hurricane Matthew in downtown Nichols, South Carolina, October 10, 2016. (Photo by Randall Hill/Reuters)

Eddie Ladd and Gwyn Emberton perform as Dylan and Caitlin Thomas in “Caitlin” at the Lauriston Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland on August 25 2017. (Photo by Mary Turner/Reuters)

Nepalese army personnel pay tributes before the body of a person who died of COVID-19 before cremating the same in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, August 17, 2020. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

A Pakistan fan poses for a photo during the Group Stage match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 between Australia and Pakistan at The County Ground on June 12, 2019 in Taunton, England. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

A woman takes a picture of a statue of a child wearing what appears to be a hazardous material suit in Fukushima, Japan on August 14, 2018. (Photo by Kwiyeon Ha/Reuters)