On 18 Dec, 12:47, "Graham." wrote:

I know in its basic form a synchronous motor will run
in either direction.

Depends on the type - "synchronous" is just a characteristic of how
fast the motor runs, there are several ways to build them. Most of
these are fixed to go in one direction (either magnetically by
slugging, mechanically with a press-button ('30s clocks),
electrically, or switchably) so as to make them reliably self-
starting. If it's the simplest sort and really doesn't care, then it
needs flick-starting.

Many non-time-critical "synchronous" motors are also not quite
synchronous, as they use a little inbuilt slip to give self-starting.