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”)

Wadha al-Sayyed, wife of captive Lebanese soldier Khaled Moqbel, protests for his release and government action, near burning tyres blocking a road in Beirut, December 15, 2014. More than two dozen members of the Lebanese security forces are being held by Sunni Islamists. (Photo by Hasan Shaaban/Reuters)

People are seen in the crowd as Serbian Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra performs during the third day of the Mexican musicial festival Vive Latino, at the Foro Sol in Mexico City, on March 29, 2014. (Photo by Alfredo Estrella/AFP Photo)

Beryl Lipton, left, douses Matt Lee during the ice bucket challenge at Boston's Copley Square, Thursday, August 7, 2014 to raise funds and awareness for ALS. The idea is: pay up for charity or get doused. The fund-raising phenomenon is catching on fast, propelled by popular videos of the dunkers and the dunked – including famous athletes and entertainers – posted on social media sites. And the challenges are raising tens of thousands of dollars and immeasurable awareness for causes from ALS to breast cancer to a camp for kids who've lost a father to war. (Photo by Elise Amendola/AP Photo)

British rally driver Kris Meeke jumps his Citroen over a brow during the fifth special stage of the World Rally Championship (WRC) Rally of Australia, near Bellingen on the New South Wales central coast on September 12, 2014. (Photo by William West/AFP Photo)

An aerial view shows a sinkhole 3.5 km (2 miles) to the east of Solikamsk-2 mine in Perm region, November 20, 2014. Shares in Russia's Uralkali, the world's top potash producer, fell sharply for a second day on Wednesday after a mine accident that could reduce global supplies and push up prices of the crop nutrient worldwide. Uralkali shares have fallen 28 percent since Tuesday when it suspended work at its Solikamsk-2 mine, which accounts for a fifth of the company's output and 3.5 percent of global capacity, following an inflow of water. A sinkhole, stretching 30 by 40 metres (yards), found at an abandoned mine 3.5 km (2 miles) to the east, increased concern about the future of the mine because an inflow of water and the resulting sinkhole in 2006 forced another Uralkali operation to shut permanently. (Photo by Reuters/Press service of Uralkali company)

A bride gets her make-up done before the start of a mass marriage ceremony in Kolkata, India, February 14, 2016. A total of 150 tribal Hindu, Muslim and Christian couples from various villages across the state took their wedding vows on Sunday during the day-long mass marriage ceremony organised by a social organisation, the organisers said. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

A woman rides a donkey during a donkey race in Roum village, Jizeen countryside, southern Lebanon, August 9, 2015. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Reuters)