Huthwaite is a village in Nottinghamshire, England. It is not far from the border with Derbyshire and is west of Mansfield. The village has a population of some 7,500 people and many of these residents speak with pride about the actor Chris Gascoyne, who was born in the village and went on the make a name for himself as an actor in Coronation Street and many other popular TV shows.

Chris Gascoyne currently plays the character of Peter Barlow in the popular ITV soap opera Coronation Street, and this is the role for which he is best known. Six other actors have played the character. The character of Peter Barlow is often discussed by the people of Huthwaite and beyond because of his stubborn personality and behavior which is sometimes destructive and often involves drinking too much. One episode featured Peter Barlow falling asleep in his house while smoking, which caused a fire that endangered the lives of himself and his son who was sleeping upstairs. The episode attracted more than ten million viewers and also attracted great pride from the people of Huthwaite that the character is played by a son of the village, despite the fact that he is not a heroic character in the show.

Many of the people of Huthwaite were glued to their TVs in the year 1985 when local lad Chris Gascoyne appeared in the television series The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged Thirteen and Three Quarters, which was a TV manifestation of the book by Sue Townsend. Chris Gascoyne played the character Barry Kent who was a bully at the school that Adrian went to. His character used to demand money from Adrian with threats of beating him up if he did not pay, but Adrian's grandmother intervened and stopped it.

Chris Gascoyne appeared in the TV drama Soldier Soldier, which was about the lives of British soldiers in the mid 1990s, from the years 1991 to 1997 as the character Fusilier Tony Rossi. Further source of pride for the people of Huthwaite was during the years 2006 and 2007 when Chris Gascoyne appeared in the BBC legal drama New Street Law, playing the character of Al Ware.

Chris Gascoyne was born in the year 1968 to Marian and Derrick Gascoyne who were residents of a terraced house in the centre of Huthwaite village. The surname Gascoyne was introduced to England after the year 1066 at the time of the Norman Conquest. Gascony is a province in France that was occupied by the English after the Norman Conquest in the eleventh century.

Alzheimer's Disease and senile dementia are subjects that are close to Chris Gascoyne's heart, as he witnessed these conditions in his grandparents at first hand when he as a young boy. His grandparents from his father's side lived next door to them in Huthwaite. Alzheimer's Disease tends to be seen in people who are sixty five years old and above. Chris Gascoyne has told of how his grandparents suffered from memory loss, confusion and hallucinations. He has performed various good works to publicise the need for understanding about the disease and has taken part in fund raising activities like running in marathons.