Russia's Kamila Valieva performs during the Exhibition Gala at the Rostelecom Cup 2021 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Sochi on November 28, 2021. (Photo by Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP Photo)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket breaks the sound barrier as it launches the next batch of Starlink satellites (mission; Starlink 6-7), at 12:01 AM from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida on Friday, July 28, 2023. (Photo by Joe Marino/UPI/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A swimmer goes for a dip in freezing temperatures at the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park, central London on December 1, 2023, as temperatures in the capital dip below zero for another night. The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for parts of the UK with freezing temperatures and snow expected in large areas. (Photo by Ben Cawthra/London News Pictures)

Cosplayers dressed as a Battle Sister and an Ultramarine from Warhammer 40,000 pose during Los Angeles Comic Con at Los Angeles Convention Center on December 03, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images)

A model wears a creation as part of the Dolce & Gabbana women's Spring Summer 2024 collection presented in Milan, Italy, Saturday, September 23, 2023. (Photo by Antonio Calanni/AP Photo)

Costume details featuring Joao Candido, a black sailor who led a revolt against the physical punishment of Brazilian Navy soldiers at the beginning of the 20th century, lie inside the Paraíso do Tuiuti Samba school at the Samba City complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, January 16, 2024. Samba schools are gearing up for this year's Carnival, scheduled from Feb. 9-17. (Photo by Bruna Prado/AP Photo)

The geese in March, Cambs, UK on August 25, 2025. The family of around 20 white waterfowl have been a fixture in March, Cambs, for years and have made their mark by regularly waddling to the high street. (Photo by South West News Service)

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”)