I'm wanting to replace a beech worktop in our kitchen which is past its
best, particularly where it's been wet, like around the Belfast sink
(exposed edges of worktop around the sink, which is mounted beneath the
worktop).

Looking in the Google archives for advice, it seems that laminated
chipboard worktops are a Bad Idea for that style of sink, because of the
ease of water getting into the chipboard. And even if we replaced the
sink with one which is mounted from above the worktop, from past
experience I have doubts about how long the worktop would last before
getting damaged elsewhere.

Other materials I've looked at are Corian (expensive), and marble (only
slightly less expensive). And we don't want another solid wood worktop.

Are there any other solutions, priced somewhere between the cheap-and-
nasty and the how-bloody-much options?

David