Competitors gather backstage as they prepare to take part in the All Ireland Irish Dancing Championships on November 2, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The championships take place at the Waterfront Hall over the course of six days with winners qualifying for the World Irish Dancing Finals which will take place in Dublin next year. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

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”)

Women sunbath as Ferrari's Brazilian driver Felipe Massa drives past during the third practice session at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo on May 25, 2013 ahead of the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix. (Photo by Alexander Klein/AFP Photo)

Indian tourists walks during heavy snowfall by Dal Lake in Srinagar on January 6, 2017. The sub-zero temperatures has frozen many water bodies in Kashmir and even drinking water taps have frozen at some places. (Photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP Photo)

Medieval jousters Luke Binks (L) and Andrew McKinnon pose for a photograph in Sydney, Australia, August 16, 2017 during a photo call for the World Jousting Championships to take place in Sydney on September 23 and 24. (Photo by Dan Himbrechts/Reuters/AAP)

Armed women attend a rally to show support to the Houthi movement in Sanaa, Yemen January 13, 2018. (Photo by Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)

Children pat an elephant at the mobile Diva circus in the town of Molodechno, some 70 kilometers northwest of Minsk on September 3, 2015. (Photo by Sergei Gapon/AFP Photo)

Fish weighing over 80 kilogram is cooked in a hotpot during a food festival in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China, October 17, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)