Complex sentence: Like most young men in the district Oats became a miner when he left school, but every week he would walk to Penzance, seven miles away, to attend evening classes so he could become a mining engineer.
Split into simpler sentences: Like most young men Oats became a miner when he left school. Every week he would walk to Penzance, seven miles away, to attend evening classes so he could become a mining engineer.