Wigan bride swaps wedding car for tricycle pedalled by her pensioner father

Rather than travelling in a classic car or limousine, Ruth Gaspar stood on the back of the three-wheeler ahead of tying the knot with her “soul mate” Dennis.

And pedalling the trike to the wedding venue – her sister’s garden in Heskin – was her 87-year-old father Tony Newton!

Ruth, who lives in Standish, said: “He is extremely fit and he cycles probably about 150 miles a week. He gave me away at my wedding and he’s a wonderful, kind man.

"I thought it was nice, because he’s a cyclist, for us to use the tricycle to come up my sister’s drive.

"We nearly crashed several times because it tips up when it goes around corners and there were rough bits. We managed though. Just at the end he hit the kerb and there was almighty laughter from the wedding party as we came to a shuddering halt.”

Ruth, 61, had a “vision” of arriving on the trike and bought it on eBay, before decorating it for the occasion.

Afterwards, the tricycle was sold for £120 and the money was donated to Wigan homelessness and poverty charity The Brick, where retired nurse Ruth volunteers in the food bank.

She said: “I wanted to help The Brick and the community. Poverty has got worse with the increases in inflation and different things. It helps because donations don’t happen all the time and we need to have money so we can buy food for the food bank. It’s to help Wigan families that are in poverty.”

It was the perfect way for Ruth and Dennis to celebrate tying the knot.

The couple have been together for six years and met while climbing mountains near Sedbergh.

Dennis proposed to Ruth last year, while walking 130 miles around Anglesey to celebrate her 60th birthday and raise money for charity Galloway’s.

They have both previously been married and Dennis, a jeweller and hospital domestic, has two sons while Ruth has two daughters.

Their wedding was followed by a honeymoon in southern Italy.

Ruth said: “We had a lovely honeymoon on the Amalfi coast. We did a lot of walking, climbed Mount Vesuvius and visited Pompeii. We had a fantastic time.”