 Mr Riley handed over a clock to 'celebrate' the twenty-year link, while the Manteo Town manager Kermit Skinner said the link started in the 1980s during the 400th anniversary of Raleigh's voyages to America.It turns out the 'twinning' of Bideford with Manteo had been established 20 years before.But the story goes back much further – 500 years – to the mysterious disappearance of a colony of more than 100 people on Roanoke Island, many of whom were immigrants from Bideford.