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The beginnings of mass consumption of going to the beach can be traced to the reign of King George IV, who made Brighton in the 1820s a resort town, which it is still today, for Londoners wanting to escape urban life. Hotels and venues for leisure were beginning to be built at this time. The beach was now seen as part of the escape from the big city, but visiting the beach was still mainly an upper-class privilege. Landscape paintings by this time, and going into the early Victorian period in the 1840s, began to paint the beach as part of a picturesque landscape in enjoying nature's beauty. This helped attract people to beaches as beaches began to be seen for their beauty as a place to enjoy. However, most people would not swim and modesty rules of the day made bathing somewhat complex.<ref>For more on how the British developed the idea of visiting a beach for the masses, see: Jenkinson, Jo. 2015. <i>The Lure of the Beach: A History of Public Bathing in Brighton</i>. Brighton Historical Society (Vic.).</ref>

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