Complex sentence: Construction was started in the 1770s by James Brindley as a way to link the industrial English Midlands to London via the Thames, fianancial problems meant that the canal did not officially open until 1790.
Split into simpler sentences: Construction was started in the 1770s by James Brindley as a way to link the industrial English Midlands to London via the Thames. Fianancial problems meant that the canal did not officially open until 1790.