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 boy runs with a burning barrel soaked in tar at the annual Ottery St Mary tar barrel festival on November 5, 2015 in Ottery St. Mary, England. The tradition, which is over 400 years old, sees competitors (who must have been born in the town to take part) running with burning barrels on their backs through the village, until the heat becomes too unbearable or the barrel breaks down, starting with junior barrels carried by children and continuing all evening with ever larger and larger barrels. The event, which has been threatened with closure on previous years due to increasing public liability insurance costs, raises thousands of pounds for charity and attracts spectators from around the world. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

In this August 28, 1963 file photo, the top of the Washington Monument and part of a U.S. flag are reflected in the sunglasses of Austin Clinton Brown, 9, of Gainesville, Ga., as he poses at the Capitol where he joins others in the March on Washington. (Photo by AFP Photo)

“Red Land: Sunset Cloud Village is one of the most picturesque places in Red Land, China. As its name indicates, it's best to see before sunset. The reddish brown soil turns redder after rainfall and after farmers plow the land”. (Photo and comment by Peng Jiang/National Geographic Photo Contest via The Atlantic)

Mug shot of William Stanley Moore, 1 May 1925, Central Police Station, Sydney. This picture appears in the Photo Supplement to the NSW Police Gazette, 28 July, 1926 captioned: “Opium dealer. Operates with large quantities of faked opium and cocaine. A wharf labourer; associates with water front thieves and drug traders”. (Photo by NSW Police Forensic Photography Archive, Justice & Police Museum, Histiric Houses Trust of NSW)

Community members look for the nameplates of their loved ones Tuesday, December 9, 2014 at Myers Funeral Service and Crematory in Porterville, Calif. during the 20th year of the memorial tree lighting. (Photo by Chieko Hara/AP Photo/The Porterville Recorder)

Snow covers roofs, streets and the Charles River following a winter blizzard in Boston, Massachusetts January 28, 2015. A powerful blizzard struck Boston and surrounding New England on Tuesday, leaving some 4.5 million people grappling with as much as three feet of snow and coastal flooding. (Photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters)

A man rows a boat on the Dal Lake as a woman holds an umbrella during snowfall in Srinagar February 19, 2015. (Photo by Danish Ismail/Reuters)