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 cosplayer dressed as the actress Lucy Liu, as depicted in the animated series Futurama, poses for a photo at Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, U.S., July 23, 2022. (Photo by Bing Guan/Reuters)

English singer and songwriter Anne-Marie performs on stage during day two of Capital's Jingle Bell Ball with Seat at London's O2 Arena on December 8, 2019. (Photo by Isabel Infantes/PA Images via Getty Images)

Professor Xie Yong works on an art installation of a beaver, which is made out of plastic and around 300,000 needles, in Shenyang, Liaoning province, July 23, 2013. The needles, according to Xie, represent the pain felt by animals when their fur is taken off to produce clothing. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

United States' Inika McPherson prepares an attempt during the women' s high jump final during the World Athletics Championships in London Saturday, August 12, 2017. (Photo by Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

A Santa hangs down the facade of the Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, with the help of the Charity Firemen of Barcelona, as he visits children admitted to the medical center, in Barcelona, Spain, 19 December 2022. (Photo by Alejandro Garcia/EPA/EFE)

Confiscated rare and protected wildlife products such as these stuffed Sumatran tiger skins are burned and destroyed during a ceremony by government forestry and wildlife officials in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia May 23, 2016 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. (Photo by Irwansyah Putra/Reuters/Antara Foto)

An activist with a painted face symbolizing the count of days spent in captivity attends the Free Azov rally in support of the captured defenders of Mariupol on April 21, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. The participants came out to remind about the Ukrainian soldiers who have been held in Russian captivity for more than two years. (Photo by Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)