‘What’s that smell?” Ab asks as the boat passes the Houses of Parliament. No, wrong, it’s not what you’re thinking – the smell in question has nothing to do with moats being cleared, or claims for non-existent mortgages. It’s 1858, the year of the Great Stink, when the smell of untreated sewage permeated London.

The Great Stink is just one of the historical facts built into Richard Povall’s new play for the Mikron Theatre Company, Tales of the Thames. The storyline itself travels both ways at once, like the British Rail logo that still sits atop every station: one couple travels to the mouth of the Thames, the other rows a skiff to the source.

The skiff has been built by the wondrously named Itchington Scratchit. He remembers the London of yesteryear – when real commodities were unloaded from ships, as opposed to being traded on computer screens in the shiny office blocks that have replaced the docks. Itch is a real character, who speaks in a mangled patois reminiscent of the late Stanley Unwin. He is keen to link up with Stella, the love of his life, who lives down Woolwich way, and who he hasn’t seen for many a long year.

Meanwhile, going in the other direction, life on a camping skiff is enough to test any relationship. At the first sign of rain, and smelly socks, Ab wants out. Roly, however, is looking forward to reaching Oxford, and – courtesy of a little “river magic” – meeting his hero, the 19th-century poet Shelley. Amazingly, they get to Lechlade before having a real row.

Tales of the Thames flips backwards and forwards across the centuries with cheerful abandon. There are mobile phones in one scene, Oliver Cromwell pops up in the next. Hyperactive river police appear, screeching acronyms at each other.

The constant switches in period do make the play feel a little disjointed, but writer Povall plainly knows and loves the Thames. He is extremely good at painting pictures with words, and enjoys introducing both unusual and familiar characters – most seasoned boaters will, for example, recognise the rather pompous Thames lock-keeper, on this occasion hard put to it to maintain a straight face because his resplendent moustache kept going askew.

To his credit, Adrian Palmer, playing the lock-keeper, managed to avoid corpsing as he struggled with his facial embellishment. He, Gemma Ryan, George Chalmers, and Rachel Cartwright make an excellent ensemble cast, and put the show over with umph and relish.

Tales of the Thames can be seen at Heyford Wharf, June 27; The Boat, Thrupp, June 29; Tooley’s Boatyard, Banbury, July 11; and Wharf House, Cropredy, Jul 13. Mikron’s other show this year, Fair Trade, the story of the co-operative movement, will be at The Queen’s Head, Eynsham, tonight; The Boat, Thrupp, June 28; The Great Western Arms, Aynho, July 1; and Wharf House, Cropredy, Jul 13. (www.mikron.org.uk)