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”)

In this January 23, 2015 photo, Guillermo Luna Martinez, 36, carries freshly painted piñatas representing Disney's Frozen snowman character Olaf downstairs to where his wife Elvia Vicente Albarran will use paper to craft the character's eyes, teeth, and distinctive tuft of hair, at the family's workshop in the Iztapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City. Though Luna and his wife have chosen to work in the family business, they plan to let their children, Guillermo, 10, and Melissa, 9, decide for themselves. “Who knows if the business will last forever”, said Luna, “I'd prefer that they study and get a career, for them to have a better future”. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

An old American car is seen in Havana as a rainbow appears in the sky, on February 3, 2022. The Cuban government on Thursday “emphatically and forcefully” demanded the end of the U.S. embargo on the island, which was reinforced “to unsuspected limits” amid the covid-19 pandemic, as it celebrates its 60th anniversary. (Photo by Yamil Lage/AFP Photo)

Shoppers and commuters in Manchester wearing face masks on February 28, 2020, including plague doctor masks due to the Coronavirus crisis in the UK. (Photo by Mario Forshow/Cavendish Press)

Team GB Rhythmic Gymnast Lynne Karina Hutchison during a training session on the seafront in Hove, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Hove, Britain, June 10, 2020. (Photo by Peter Cziborra/Reuters)

A Palestinian youth swings a homemade fireworks sparkler, as people celebrate on the night ahead of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Gaza City on April 11, 2021. (Photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Women dance at the Taiga nightclub in Batroun village, north of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, July 2, 2021. With their dollars trapped in the bank, a lack of functioning credit cards and travel restrictions imposed because of the pandemic, many Lebanese who traditionally vacationed over the summer at regional hotspots are also now turning toward domestic tourism. (Photo by Hassan Ammar/AP Photo)

Relatives of community leader Josemano “Badou” Victorieux, one of the victims of clashes with the Police, cry during his funeral in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 16 October 2019. The protest movement in Haiti completes a month with no sign of remitting and without the President, Jovenel Moise, yielding to the voices that require him to resign. (Photo by Orlando Barria/EPA/EFE)