History / bookmark column on left of screen always open in safari, how do i get rid?? It was never there before ios8

I Cant get rid of the history column on my safari pages, it takes up about 5cm of my screen from top to bottom at the left. Have cleared history but its still there.

i Updated to ios 8 and thats when it started.

im also finding that in safari, when i start typing into google search that it only takes one letter, then it jumps to top of screen and then i have to click into search box to finish typing my search.

frustrating. Annoying.

help!!!